Automated manufacturing methods for producing goods from a variety of materials are becoming more prevalent through the use of computer controlled saws, machines, and assembly robots. To optimize efficiency, appropriately sized materials need to be provided to these machines quickly and efficiently. Existing material feeders and hoppers provide one solution for supplying automated machinery with the raw materials necessary to complete their operations. Automated material feeders and hoppers allow operators to supply the hoppers with batches of materials that do not need to correspond to the order of parts required on an assembly line. However these existing material feeders have drawbacks that prevent the maximum efficiency of the automated machinery from being achieved.
The construction industry is making strides in automation driven by the need to lower production costs. In an age where cookie-cutter houses are no longer desirable and custom-built homes are the norm, automation is becoming increasingly complex. Building components that are fabricated off-site are tending more towards custom orders that cannot be fabricated in large batch builds as they have been in the past. Therefore a system of automation that can adapt to frequently changing designs is necessary to reduce manufacturing costs.
Automated feeders for elongated articles are a desirable tool for such manufacturing facilities as roof-truss manufacturers. With increasing automation involved in the manufacture of roof-trusses and the increasingly complex and unique roof-trusses that are being fabricated, an automated magazine feeder handling, for example, lumber comprising the truss members, would be of particular use in this field. The complexities of the roof-trusses require a variety of different sizes of components and these components need to be supplied in proper quantities and in an optimum sequence to maximize efficiency. A machine that can deliver individual components of the proper size to a roof-truss manufacturing line in an optimal sequence, with the efficiency of batch restocking of the line can vastly improve present manufacturing efficiencies.
Existing board-feeding magazines are generally large, complex machines for the limited capacity and small variety of materials they can provide. They can be overly complicated and difficult to troubleshoot and maintain. There exists a need for an automated magazine feeder that can provide the necessary material variety, the capacity to maximize efficiency, and ability to sequentially deliver individual components to a manufacturing line quickly, efficiently, and reliably.